Control (Aurora Book 1)

Chapter 6 - First Kiss

THE ROOM Ichose for Clover was called The Lover’s Lounge, a smaller, but well known haunt for those looking for a human connection but aren’t beyond a casual hook up. As we spawned in, I could see that the place was the same as I’d remembered it. There was no dance floor beyond a small hardwood section placed in the corner where a handful of couples could get in a slow dance if they wanted. The lights were kept low and the windows were covered by the drawn, blackout curtains almost all the time. There were several tables as well as couches and loveseats, almost all occupied by the various people that had managed to find someone to help fill the void in their life, at least for the rest of the night.

While spawning into a room is silent, people still take notice of you as you enter, almost as if you’d walked in through a bar door and a few patrons sipping on their drinks had turned to see who was coming in. I stepped out in front of Clover to partially shield her for a moment while I took in all that was happening. I was still holding her hand, knowing there was a chance the dizziness was still potential a problem. After looking around, I could see that there were several couple in various stages of undress and at least four of them were currently engaged in coitus. I turned back to look at Clover and saw that she’d managed to shake off the dizzy spell from our teleport.

“Here we are,” I said to her in a low voice, pulling her beside me by her hand so she could have a look at the room. After a few seconds, I heard her lightly gasp as she realized what was happening. Her eyes grew as large as dinner plates and I could feel her grip on my hand tighten. “This is The Lover’s Lounge. It’s owned by a player named Polyopoly. He’s had it for the past year or so. Fairly popular place for those looking for a little fun without getting overly indulgent.”

“Wow,” Clover said almost under her breath. She looked around, her eyes bouncing back and forth across the room and taking notice of the couples having sex, locking onto them. She could not stop staring. “So this is a sex room.”

“Quite tame,” I said as I glanced over to her, seeing her completely enchanted with what she was seeing. “But yes. It’s technically a sex room.” She was staring at a couple maybe 15 feet from us on a loveseat having sex. She quickly became entranced, her mouth slightly agape. I was convinced it was the first time in her life she’d seen two other people having sex at all, much less in public. I couldn’t help but smirk. “These kinds of places are common. They’re all over the game world. Just need to build a decent room, set it up, fix up the lighting, pipe in some music, and give it an alluring name.” She was still staring at the same couple. “Taking a shine to them, I see.” She snapped her gaze away from them and back to me.

“Oh,” she said, realizing she’d been staring at them for a good 30 seconds. “I was just…umm…I didn’t mean to stare.” I felt myself smirking again.

“It’s ok if you do,” I said, looking over to the couple that was deep in the throes of passion. Either that or they were both just really horny. “When people have sex like this in a public room, they generally want or at least don’t mind if people watch. That’s part of the thrill for them.”

“Is it?” Clover asked as she began watching the couple with me.

“Exhibitionists,” I said as she and I looked on. “It’s a common kink for a lot of people around here as far as I know. It’s something most people partake in at some point in their adventures here in Aurora. That’s part of the reason rooms like this exist. Sure, you can meet someone and have them back to your place for sex, but there’s always that little extra thrill you can get when you know someone is watching you.”

“So you’ve done this?” Clover continued to stare as she spoke.

“Many, many times.”

“Did you like it?”

“Sure. It’s kind of fun really. To be having sex with someone and then you look over across the room and make eye contact with someone who’s been watching you, looking over your body, seeing someone with their hands on you; gives you a small adrenaline rush. Because at that point, assuming the sex isn’t awful, you’re already feeling good and then you add that extra something and it makes it that much better.”

“I don’t know if I could ever do this,” Clover said, her eyes still glued to the couple. “I mean…you can see…everything! It’s like there’s no secrets anymore. It’s all out there for anyone to look at.” I could feel her hand squeezing mine even tighter.

“I think I’m seeing you develop your first kink,” I said which caused her to turn her head to me in an instant. “What you and I are doing right now? It’s voyeurism. Pretty much means you derive some sort of pleasure from watching people either engaging in sex or simply just looking at them while nude. Here it generally means you like watching people have sex though.” Clover stared at me for a moment as the realization hit her. She looked back to the two people she’d been watching and tilted her head slightly as if trying to get a better angle. I couldn’t blamed her though. They were a beautiful couple and it looked more like they were making love than just merely having casual sex. “You like watching…and that’s OK.” Clover nodded her head, the loving couple squarely her focus.

I let her take in her fill as I glanced around the room more, spotting several other couples in various stages of their courtship dance. A few people took notice of my presence and nodded their head to acknowledge me and I nodded in return. After a spell, Clover turned her attention to a F/F couple on another loveseat as they caressed each other and shared several passionate kisses.

“You’ve kissed another woman,” Clover said out of the blue, holding her gaze as the two women continued to enjoy each other. “You have, right?”

“Many times,” I said, Clover’s hand still in mind. I’d loosened my grip on her, but she’d unconsciously insisted I not let go by squeezing on my hand with ever greater force.

“How many times?” she asked. I’d gotten the distinct feeling she was having an awakening.

“I don’t keep count of things like that,” I said. “I’ve had many female clients when I was an active escort. Sometimes we kissed, sometimes we didn’t. Even outside of escorting, I’ve made love to several women. It’s kind of par for the course in Aurora.”

“You really feel that free here?” Clover asked.

“Yes,” I said. At this point, I’d noticed that Clover had begun biting her lower lip. “In real life I’ve been with a woman a few times, but usually only when a man was involved.” Clover’s hand shook in mine as she heard me admit this. “One time I was with a woman on my own. I was young and I was pretty scared, but it turned out to be a wonderful experience so when I got here, I wanted to try it again. With the right partner, experiences like that can be incredible and memorable.” With that, Clover turned to me and stared intently. I could almost hear the gears moving in her head as she thought about what she wanted from me. I stared back at her, knowing what she was going to ask.

“I wanna try,” she said, our eyes still locked. She stared at me blankly at first as if she was still trying to psyche herself up to ask such a thing from me. Not wanting to assume anything, I gave her a standard reply.

“I’m sure you’ll find someone to try that with around here,” I said, breaking her gaze and looking around the room once more. I could feel her staring at me, but I continued to nonchalantly browse the room, locking eyes with several other players there as I did.

“With you,” Clover whispered. I looked back to her just in time to see her eyes drop to my chest. She was nervous and understandably so. I knew she was going to ask, but I didn’t want to push her. It’s was very important to me that she wanted this on her own and did not feel forced into anything. “You’re the only person I know here…I know we’ve only known each other…like an hour or so, but….” Clover paused. She was having trouble stitching together words. “I don’t know what it is. I just feel…comfortable around you. Like I’ve know you for so much longer.” She’d finally worked up the nerve to look up to me. Our eyes met for only a moment before she glanced away again, and then quickly shifting her site back to me once more.

“I seem to have that effect on people,” I said, offering her a soft smile. “I knew you’d ask, but I wanted to give you time to let the idea grow inside you first.”

“I want this,” she said to me, her voice finally above a whisper. “I want you to be my first.” She blinked several times nervously and her hand, still in mine, griped me a little tighter to the point where I forcefully shifted my fingers so she wouldn’t go overboard.

“Are you certain,” I said, taking her other hand into my free one. “You only ever get this once.” Clover’s hair had managed to find its’ way in front of her left eye and a few loose strands stuck to the corner of her lips. I felt her hands drop out mine and reach for my hips, her eagerness taking me by surprise. Her hands reached under my jacket and I could feel her fingertips touch my skin, sending a light chill up my spine.

“Yes,” she said to me as her voice returned to whisper. I nodded my head to her in acknowledgment. I carefully pulled her arms further around me and pressed my chest to hers, our breasts meeting each others which caused here hands to shiver. I could feel her heart rhythmically beating through her chest , its’ pulsing and forceful thump mimicking what it was possibly doing in the real world. I carefully took her face into my hands, delicately tugging the few strands of loose hair away from her mouth.

I lovingly pulled her soft and supple lips closer to me and began to caress them with my own, lightly at first, allowing her to take in a few sharp and nervous breaths. Each gentle kiss I offered her was followed up with another, just as soft and careful as the last. I felt her hands tense up and grab onto my top as if this were one of the most intense sensations she’d ever felt in her life. I let it last as long as I felt comfortable with as I was doing this with someone so new and so inexperienced in the ways of both Aurora and the real world. As I began to pull back from her, I felt her follow my lips as if wanting to steal one last kiss from me.

“Are you alright,” I whispered to her while stroking her cheek with my thumb. Still clutching to my jacket, she stared at me with a longing I’d only seen from those who were desperately yearning for a human connection. I could tell she felt unloved and possibly ignored in her real life. Her eyes, which are a direct representation of how she would look in the real world, told me all I needed to know about her true state of mind. She was someone desperate for affection and no one in her life so far had shown her such care and attention. In a way, I felt guilty because I had unknowingly spoiled her with the attention I’d shown her. I could only hope she wouldn’t get overly attached to me over something that I felt was normal for me, but for her could have been life altering. “Clover, are you ok?”

“Yes,” she said to me in a nearly inaudible whisper. In that moment, I felt as if a dozen pairs of eyes had fallen on Clover and I. Looking away from her for a moment, I realized that at least half the room was staring at us, Clover’s arms wrapped tightly around me as if holding on for dear life. As I always did, I looked back out to the crowd of people staring at us with a quiet confidence that I’d managed to build up over the years. I knew what their looks meant and I knew why they were looking but not speaking. It wasn’t something I’d craved or even chased, but I’d somehow managed to accumulate over my time in Aurora. They were looks of respect.

Over the years I’d become known as a kind and caring person and each of the people in the room who knew who I was knew what I was doing. It’s in my soul to look after and take care of those in need of solace and direction. It wasn’t nearly the first time I’d offered my guidance to those that looked like they needed it. I never assumed everyone needed help, but I make it known that I’m there if they needed it. To the faces in the crowd that I recognized either from prior conversations or just in passing, I nodded to them. Having lived up to the reputation I’d managed to build over the years, they nodded back respectfully.

Clover soon realized what was happening and looked out to the crowd as well, a slight tinge of embarrassment coming over her face. No one there mocked or laughed at her though. They knew that everyone had their first time at some point and were not there to judge anyone else experiencing it. Knowing that these were the kind of people The Lover’s Lounge attracted was yet another reason why I’d selected it. There is no judgment there. It’s all about love, caring, and mutual respect.

I turned back to her, lightly tugging her chin with my fingers so she’d face me again. I looked her over and admired her for a moment before brushing more of her red hair out from in front of her emerald green eyes. After a few seconds, she began to smile for me, her arms relaxing around my waist and finally able to enjoy the moment. For a fleeting instant, I thought she might cry tears of joy and although her eyes did glass up, she was able to maintain her composure.

“I loved it,” she said, her voice much more than a whisper now. Her smile grew wider and she breathed a sigh of what felt like relief coated with giddiness.

“As long as you stick to places like this for your adventures,” I said with a smile, “you’ll be alright.” I looked back over to the players in the room with us as several of them turned their attention back to their partners. “There are good people in this place. Consent and respect are a big deal here. Remember, you never have to do anything you don’t want to. If someone tells you otherwise, they’re trying to take advantage of you.” I brought up Clover’s HUD once more and saved Lunar and Lover’s to her rooms list. “Both of the rooms we visited tonight I’m saving for you. If you ever want to come back, just bring up the rooms listing and select saved rooms. You’ll be safe here. The patrons and room owners always look out for others and if they see someone bringing trouble, they get rid of them.”

“Ok,” Clover said, letting her hands drop further down my waist and hang off of my wider than average hips. I drew her attention back to her HUD so I could show her the proper way to look for rooms based on type and the kinds of people they tended to attract. Room ratings in Aurora used a star system similar to those you see in the real world when looking over products you might be looking to purchase. Those with a higher star rating are generally better than those with a lower one. For a time, people would often try to game the system by offering gold to new players in exchange for a higher rating, but that was quickly quashed a couple of years ago and the associated rooms permanently closed. No one has tried to game the system since then, given the kind of gold you could potentially earn by having a highly rated place. No one is willing to risk losing a strong source of steady income.

I took Clover by the hand again and led her across the room over to a group of people that were sitting at a table that were chatting and having drinks. I didn’t know any of them on a personal level, but I did recognize several of their names from the in game chat boards. I introduced them to Clover and let them know she was still very new. They immediately took her in and began speaking with to her, wanting her to feel welcome. As with most of my interactions, a few people in the group asked for a picture with me and I obliged. I then turned and looked to the upper balcony area of the room and spotted Polyopoly staring down at us. I tipped my head toward Clover and Poly nodded her head at me, knowing I was asking them to make sure Clover was properly looked after. As a thank you to them, I sent 500 gold to the room coffers. Just as I broke my pairing with Clover so I could leave her with her new friends, a message marked as urgent came up in my HUD. It was from Giff, The Spinner. It asked me to call him as soon as I could so I did as I walked away from the table.

“Lotus,” Giff said to me as I looked for a quiet, unoccupied corner to speak with him in.

“What’s going on?” I said to him as I crept around a corner and leaned against a wall out of view from most of the room patrons. “Urgent seems a little much for most of the things you and I discuss. Did you glue your balls to your butt hole again?”

“Oh my God!” Giff shouted with a laugh. “You and that song!”

“What can I say,” I said back to him. “I think it’s funny. And I told you about calling me Lotus.” Giff chuckled.

“You know I like teasing you,” he said with extra spirit in his voice.

“Just like any brother would,” I said back to him.

“Hey!” he said. “I’m not your brother. You trying to get back at me?”

“A tease for a tease,” I said as I smirked to myself. I’d often referred to Giff as my brother since we’d known each other for so long in Aurora. We’d also never looked at each other with any sort of romantic interest even after spending many nights together.

“So Ana,” Giff said to me, getting serious. “That player that started that shit a couple months ago, remember them? Well, they’re back and already causing problems again.”

“Which one?” I asked as there were a few people in the game that were consummate troublemakers. “That one girl that’s always playing dice and getting angry at people for being alive?”

“You mean Crazy Fry?” Giff asked. “Nah, that bitch is small time compared to Ronnie.”

“Oh,” I said as I realized he meant Ronnie Rarko, a notoriously obnoxious troll that seemed more interested in griefing people than actually enjoying himself. Maybe that was what he derived joy from. “I don’t get why they keep letting him back on. How many times has he been suspended now? Four times?”

“Seven,” Giff said. “And they still let that dirty bastard back in.”

“He’s such a damn blight,” I said as I looked back over to Clover to see that she was doing wonderfully as I’d hoped she would. She was looking over to me with some concern and one of her new friends told her I was on a call as there was a small phone emblem by my nameplate. “What kind of idiocy is he up to now?”

“He’s talking shit,” Giff said.

“When is he not?”

“He’s talking shit about you. Again.” I sighed.

“Jesus Christ,” I said, the exasperation in my voice obvious. “What the hell is his problem with me? What did I ever do to him?”

“He’s probably going after you again over your title,” Giff said. “Just like last time.”

“That man has no life,” I said back to Giff. “He comes of as one of those men that thinks they have it all figured out when really they are trying to force others to fit into their box of understanding. Still, not like I can stop him. He can talk shit up to a point and he’s not breaking any rules. Unless you’re contacting me because he is breaking the rules.”

“That’s the tricky part,” Giff said in a lower voice. “He’s talking shit, but not in the way he has in the past. Now he’s getting people all riled up over personal information.”

“Personal info?” I said back to him, a little confused. “Why does he even care about all that? That data’s confidential.”

“I know,” Giff said, “but he’s talking about how some men play the game with female avatars and vice versa.” I could feel the grimace coming over my face. “He’s saying that’s unethical and people who do that are pieces of shit and should be outed or kicked out of the game. He’s saying that shit about you and me and even Lookout.” I shook my head.

“Sounds like something he’d do,” I said, edging toward exasperation.

“It does,” Giff said, agreeing with me. “And apparently that idea for those around him is picking up some steam. People are talking now. That wave of conversation is spreading and it’s making some players nervous. They think their personal info could be revealed.”

“That would never happen,” I said. “The game devs would never release that data. If they didn’t they’d have a massive class action lawsuit on their hands and they’d put people’s lives in danger. It would be a train wreck of mass proportions.”

“You and I both know that,” Giff said with some reservation in his voice. “But that’s where it starts to go off the rails. Someone started a rumor that the game studio might be the target of a hack by one of the players. Some even think the hack already happened and that someone is sitting on gigabytes of player data and could leak it at any time.” I thought about what Giff was saying for a moment.

“That has to be bullshit,” I said, shaking my head. “If they’d gotten hacked they’d have said something. They’d give us a heads up to change our passwords, take measures to secure our data, that sort of stuff.”

“Or they might not,” Giff countered. “A lot of companies out there get hacked and never say anything about it until the data is sold or someone blows the whistle. Hell, the game publisher may not even realize they’ve been hacked!” He’d made an excellent point, one I couldn’t ignore.

There is a history in the corporate world where companies will get hacked and not even realize it. Or they may realize it and simply not say anything to customers for months or even years after the hack occurred. For so many large corporations out there it’s all about money and if they admit they were hacked, their stock price could suffer and investors will get nervous. I knew that Giff knew I had contacts in virtually every circle in the game from the dancers to the sports jocks, the fashionistas to the emo crews, the BDSM community to the “Vanilla Shakes,” and even so far down as the notorious schemers and creeps that always looked to steal from and take advantage of people in Aurora.

“Are you wanting me to ask around?” I asked Giff, already aware of what his answer would be.

“Probably be a good idea,” he said. “Like you said, it’s probably all bullshit but you never know. And if this talk is only getting louder, who knows. Maybe some hacker that plays will get ballsy and attempt the hack himself. Point is Ronnie is putting ideas into people’s heads and it can have a negative effect on the community.”

“Should we get a Game Moderator involved?” I asked him. “They’re better equipped to handle this sort of thing anyway. All I can really do is reach out to my contacts and see what the word is around Aurora. Even then, what can we really do aside from trying to dispels the rumors.”

“We may have to try,” Giff said. “I think if Ronnie is starting a panic amongst the player base that would probably break some rules. The problem is while he may have started it there are probably a hundred other people all spreading the rumor now and I don’t think a Game Mod really wants to start doing mass suspensions. That looks really bad, like they’re trying to hide something. I bet if they did that, then those left would look at that as confirmation that there really was a hack and it would spread more.”

“You’re right,” I said back to Giff, openly sighing. “I’ll walk around a bit, visit some old haunts and see if anyone else is talking about this. Hell, maybe I’ll just go straight to the source and ask Ronnie what the deal is.”

“Damn,” Giff said with a little laugh. “Just like your old self; no beating around the bush.”

“Sometimes it’s best to attack something like this head on,” I said. “And if things go sideways…well, I guess I can always just rely on my ‘motherly’ charms.”

“Oh God,” Giff said with a laugh. He was well aware of my past. “Do people still call you that? Didn’t you stop escorting like a year and a half ago?”

“Once you’re their ‘Mommy,’” I said, “you’re always their ‘Mommy.’ It doesn’t really bother me all that much. At least they’re not calling me Queen.”

“Still hate that royalty stuff?” Giff asked me. “At this point, I don’t even care anymore. If they wanna call me Prince or Spin or Giff, it’s all the same to me.”

“Which do you prefer?” I said, half-joking.

“Shit,” Giff said. “Maybe they’ll call me Daddy!”

“No way I’m calling you that,” I said with a light chuckle.

I ended the call with Giff and sent him my customary leather bound gift, deciding on the song Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush. I knew he was getting into her stuff so I felt it was appropriate. I looked back over to Clover who was laughing and smiling with the group I’d introduced her to. I watched over her a moment as she conversed with her new friends, glad that I was able to help her find some people who would keep her wellbeing in mind.

As I had with Giff, I went into my HUD and prepared a black, leather-bound notebook for her as an in game gift and applied my signature to it as well as a song to help commemorate our meeting. After some thought, I decided to go with the song Two Weeks by FKA Twigs which felt like a good choice given our little adventure. I set a timer for the gift to be delivered 30 minutes from then.

I went back over for a bit to wish them well and to let Clover know that if she needed me, she could send me a message anytime she liked. Seeing that I was needing to head out, she stood up and hugged me as tight as she could. I gave her one last kiss on her cheek, but I could tell she wanted it elsewhere. Instead, I raised my hand up to her face, extended my finger and playfully touched the tip of her nose while making an audible “boop” which caused her to laugh. I waved goodbye to everyone and within a second, I was back in my personal domicile where I could think for a moment on who I would or should call on to see if they had the information I was looking for. I realized I could very easily find myself going down a deep, dark rabbit hole and I needed to make sure I was ready for it. Even with all the protections in place in Aurora, there was still the chance for a certain level of damage to ones’ mental state. Most of the people in the game are decent and aren’t looking to cause anyone else harm, but for others that is their only goal.